Derek Keeling(1980-2018)
- Actor
With his amazing and quintessential American charisma, Derek Keeling is poised to be one of his generation's most memorable performers and songwriters. After receiving his musical training and degree at the University of Kentucky he has performed all over America and across the world. Derek has now moved to Nashville to devote his time fully to his song writing. Earlier this year he recorded his Live EP, of which he was the sole writer, at the infamous Sun Studio in Memphis, TN.
Keeling is best known for his run on NBC's Grease: You're the One That I Want, in which he placed third in Broadway's largest national casting call. Keeling made his Broadway debut in the summer of 2008 as Danny Zuko in Grease. He and the musical have an illustrious, 6-year history; excluding his NBC Grease experience, Keeling estimates he has brought his own James Dean-style swagger to the classic musical for nearly 1000 performances -- across nearly every state in the nation, and always in a professional-level production. He has even taken the All-American story across the border to Canadian and European audiences. After two high-energy years on the musical's national tour -- performing along with pop icons Frankie Avalon and Chubby Checker -- Keeling feels Broadway was the "cherry on top" of his Grease experience.
After his successful Broadway run Derek took on a challenging off-Broadway production called Connect-Disconnect in which he had to stretch himself as an actor playing two very different roles in the two person musical spanning comedy and drama. For his efforts he was awarded the Midtown International Theatre Festival Award for Best Leading Actor in a Musical.
His experience covers a wide range of dramas and musicals, touching every genre and audience. Keeling has been a part of many new and upcoming projects, and played the iconic role of Arthur "The Fonz" Fonzarelli in Happy Days the Musical in Los Angeles and a prestigious, pre-Broadway run of A Tale of Two Cities, starring as Charles Darnay. Keeling was seen in the starring role of the regional premiere of All Shook Up at Musical Theatre West. The performance was hailed by critics at top publications such as the Los Angeles Times, which calls Keeling "that rarity seldom seen since the days of Cary Grant -- namely, a hunky guy who can play comedy."
Derek returned to NYC in the summer to bring his duet concert Sunday Kind of Love to the infamous Feinstein's Night Club. Keeling also recently finished a run of the new Roger Bean musical Life Could Be A Dream at the Hudson Theatre in downtown Hollywood. In the summer of 2011 he starred in a concert featuring the music of Rodgers and Hammerstein backed by California Philharmonic.
Keeling is best known for his run on NBC's Grease: You're the One That I Want, in which he placed third in Broadway's largest national casting call. Keeling made his Broadway debut in the summer of 2008 as Danny Zuko in Grease. He and the musical have an illustrious, 6-year history; excluding his NBC Grease experience, Keeling estimates he has brought his own James Dean-style swagger to the classic musical for nearly 1000 performances -- across nearly every state in the nation, and always in a professional-level production. He has even taken the All-American story across the border to Canadian and European audiences. After two high-energy years on the musical's national tour -- performing along with pop icons Frankie Avalon and Chubby Checker -- Keeling feels Broadway was the "cherry on top" of his Grease experience.
After his successful Broadway run Derek took on a challenging off-Broadway production called Connect-Disconnect in which he had to stretch himself as an actor playing two very different roles in the two person musical spanning comedy and drama. For his efforts he was awarded the Midtown International Theatre Festival Award for Best Leading Actor in a Musical.
His experience covers a wide range of dramas and musicals, touching every genre and audience. Keeling has been a part of many new and upcoming projects, and played the iconic role of Arthur "The Fonz" Fonzarelli in Happy Days the Musical in Los Angeles and a prestigious, pre-Broadway run of A Tale of Two Cities, starring as Charles Darnay. Keeling was seen in the starring role of the regional premiere of All Shook Up at Musical Theatre West. The performance was hailed by critics at top publications such as the Los Angeles Times, which calls Keeling "that rarity seldom seen since the days of Cary Grant -- namely, a hunky guy who can play comedy."
Derek returned to NYC in the summer to bring his duet concert Sunday Kind of Love to the infamous Feinstein's Night Club. Keeling also recently finished a run of the new Roger Bean musical Life Could Be A Dream at the Hudson Theatre in downtown Hollywood. In the summer of 2011 he starred in a concert featuring the music of Rodgers and Hammerstein backed by California Philharmonic.
